Fostering Integrity in Postgraduate Research: An Evidence-Based Policy and Support Framework

Postgraduate research students have a unique position in the debate on integrity in research as students and novice researchers. To assess how far policies for integrity in postgraduate research meet the needs of students as “research trainees,” we reviewed online policies for integrity in postgraduate research at nine particular Australian universities against the Australian Code for Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code) and the five core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy identified by Bretag et al. (2011 Bretag, T., Mahmud, S., Wallace, M., Walker, R., Green, M., East, J., James, C., McGowan, U. and Partridge, L. 2011. Core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy in Australian higher education. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 7: 3–12.  Google Scholar]), i.e., access, approach, responsibility, detail, and support. We found inconsistency with the Code in the definition of research misconduct and a lack of adequate detail and support. Based on our analysis, previous research, and the literature, we propose a framework for policy and support for postgraduate research that encompasses a consistent and educative approach to integrity maintained across the university at all levels of scholarship and for all stakeholders.